Caress The Dark God [Scions of the Ankh 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (3 page)

He smiled, liking the way his name sounded on her lips, even if she was a little perturbed with him.

“You owe me.”

She squinted. “What?”

“I would stop doing that if I were you.”

“Doing what?”

“Asking questions.”

“Wh—” she began, then stopped. “Explain yourself.”

“We had an agreement. For every two questions you ask me, I get to ask you one. By my calculations, you owe me…” Anubis pretended to calculate. “You’ve asked me ten questions, which means you owe me five answers.”

Her brown eyes were hard as she looked at him without blinking. Tessa took a deep breath before she leaned against the doorframe. Her hand fluttered in the air, indicating he should start asking questions. Anubis smiled. “It’s not going to be that easy, Dr. Michaels. You see, in the short time we’ve known each other we have two deals in effect, the first one being the question arrangements and the second proving that you have no desire for me by the time morning comes.”

“Okay,” she said carefully. He knew she was trying to avoid asking him a question. “I’m very tired, Torian, and really am not good company. I honestly don’t feel like going anywhere and you’re not stepping foot in this room. So I do not understand how you propose to prove such a thing.”

“You should be hungry.” His statement took her by surprise. She nodded yes and Torian mentally asked Hathor to send up food and drink. “Good. I’ve asked Anaise to have some food brought up for you.”

He unfastened two of the buttons on his shirt and walked over to the desk in his room to drag the chair in front of the connecting door. “There’s one just like this in your room,” he informed her as he sat down.

“You don’t seri—” she began, then stopped. Without a word, she turned around and quickly scanned the room for the desk. Finding it, she dragged its chair back and sat down opposite him on her side of the doorway. “I’m assuming you’re ready to begin.”

“You’re getting a knack for this.”

“Seeing as I’m five questions in, I don’t need to go deeper into debt.”

“You should find your room quite comfortable. Anaise goes through a lot of trouble decorating.”

“The room is beautiful.”

“If you need something to sleep in, just ask Anaise. She loves to shop and I am sure she has plenty of clothing for a slew of women.”

“Thank you, I’ll do that.”

“The food should be here any minute, as I’m sure after all that traveling you are famished.”

“I am, actually. The last thing I ate was,” again, she stopped herself and grinned. “You’re good, Torian. You’ve managed the art of conversation without actually asking a question.” For just a moment, her smile was unguarded. He could see the smallest dimples and found them quite charming. Her eyes held a light to them before she apparently realized she had dropped her guard, and immediately lost the smile. A knock at the door from her room to the hallway made her jump.

“Please come in,” she said hoarsely. Torian remained quiet while the servants brought in the food. She kept her eyes on the servants, deftly avoiding his gaze. She wouldn’t be able to avoid him much longer. He was determined to find out as much as he could about this fascinating human. More than that, he was determined to bed her.

“Please set up a table right here,” He instructed the servants. Tessa’s eyebrow went up, but she kept her lips tightly shut. Tessa got up, making room for them to drag the small nightstand between her and Torian and set the food out rather attractively on top. Once they were done and closed the door behind them , Torian trained his gaze on her.

“I hope you find that meal to your liking.” She nodded as she speared a fork into the scrambled eggs. He watched as she chewed, even more closely as she swallowed. The simplest things she did piqued his interest. He couldn’t recall in his extremely long immortal life ever being so fascinated with a female as he was with Tessa.

“I’m assuming you’re going to stare at me until I’m done.” She looked at him, defiance overtaking the uncomfortable body language of just a moment before. “I’m also assuming you’ve already eaten.”

“It would seem you learn quickly, Tessa,” he said admiringly. “No, I am not going to stare at you until you’re done. I believe I will always stare at you, Tessa. You’re a very beautiful woman.” His compliment didn’t seem to have an impact on her. No doubt she had heard it a million times before. When he had called her beautiful, he noticed her face harden for just a moment. She obviously had a lot of painful secrets. “And, yes, I’ve already had sustenance.” Her posture relaxed a bit as he laced his words with the faintest hint of compulsion for her to relax.

She drank the last of the orange juice before she leaned back in her chair — and burped. “Excuse me.” She seemed not the least bit embarrassed, as most women would be. He was willing to bet she was hoping that bad manners would turn him off and make him leave. “I am hoping this won’t take long, I’m very tired.” She crossed her legs, and he wished the nightstand wasn’t between them so he could drink in the full length of those gorgeous legs.

“Then let us begin, Dr. Tessa Michaels. First question: how did
he
break your heart?”

She swallowed as her gaze locked with his. He wasn’t prepared for her abrupt reaction. She stood up quickly; her chair tumbled backwards, a dull thump on the carpeting.

“We’re done,” she bit out and attempted to push the nightstand into his side of the room to close the door. Torian moved faster, gripping the other side of it to prevent her from pushing it. He’d obviously struck a nerve.

“Quite the contrary. We’ve just started,” he answered, already on the other side of the nightstand and pulling her further into her room.

“Get out,” she managed between clenched teeth. The nerve of him, asking such a personal question when she barely knew him. He stood less than three feet from her; those black eyes never faltered as he seemed to study her. “I said get out.” She brushed past him, hating that the contact sent hot shivers down her spine.

“I’ll withdraw the question for now.”

“I would like you to withdraw,” she snapped, fiddling with her suitcase on the bed. She just needed something to do until she got him out of her room. He was disturbing her in ways she hadn’t thought possible. It was absolutely none of his business what Roarden had done to her.

“I took you for a gentleman. When a lady asks you to leave, you should do so.” Without really taking in what she was doing, she began to idly move garments around in her suitcase.

“I’ve upset you. That was not my intention.”

“Well, the road to hell and all that,” Tessa snapped again, spinning around to face him. “Look, I’m sure you’re a nice enough guy and I’m equally sure women love the caveman mentality you have going on, but no respectable lady,” she began, pointing at him to punctuate her point, “would kiss and tell about a relationship with a man she just met.”

His very inviting lips turned into an even more inviting smile. His eyes were trained on … Her gaze dropped to the hand she’d pointed at him. Her pink thong still waved slightly to and fro from her finger. Mortified, she put it behind her back and hoped the blush she was sure was staining her face wasn’t too bright — or noticeable. “Now, if you’ll just leave I can get some rest.” She used her most professional voice and hoped like hell she still had some dignity left.

His head tilted slightly to the side as he remained quiet a heartbeat longer. “I have some phone calls to make. I will give you respite from our agreement — for now. And for the record, I took you for a lady the moment my eyes laid on your divine form. I do, however, hope you are a lady of your word and will give me the opportunity to use the five questions you owe me.”

Tessa opened her mouth then closed it again. What did he think was going to happen between now and this evening? She had every intention of getting on a plane back to Arizona as planned. “I can only tell you this: I plan on getting on that plane tonight. So without bothering me while I sleep, I really don’t see—”

“Perhaps it would be better if I called the airline on your behalf and let them know you’ll be rescheduling your return flight.”

“Really, that’s not necessary. It can’t storm forever. I’ll just take a nap and when I wake up I’ll head towards the airport.”

“Storms in Cairo have been known to go on for days.” He walked over to the window and peered out. “You could be stuck here for quite a while.”

“Or not.”

He turned to her. He had a look on his face that suggested he knew something she didn’t and he definitely wasn’t sharing any information. “Very well, then. Let us see how the storm plays out and we’ll go from there. Meanwhile, you rest.” He sauntered over to the dividing door and, with little effort, returned the nightstand to its proper place. He bowed to her and she almost smiled at his Old World manners. He shut the door softly behind him and Tessa let out a breath. He was exhausting.

She ran her fingers through her tangled curls in disgust. Exhausting or not, he was gorgeous. She had to remind herself that she was definitely not in the market for a relationship, let alone a one-night stand. She returned the offending thong back to her suitcase and shook her head. Could she have done something more embarrassing?

* * * *

It was so dark. She felt along the walls in fear. Where was she? Her eyes couldn’t make out anything in the uninterrupted darkness. The warm floor beneath her feet turned into a carpet of cool grass. It tickled her soles as she walked. Relief coursed through her as the stars above twinkled and the moon shone through the trees. She’d made it outside; from
where, she didn’t know. A scurrying sound caught her attention. She turned, trying to make out what it was. It ran so fast her eyes barely registered the form. It looked like a large dog. Without realizing why, she began to follow it.

The creature came out of the trees; its coat was black and glossy. It was one of the most beautiful animals Tessa had ever seen. Jackal, whispered in her mind. She approached it slowly as it sat on its haunches. She held out a hand in a friendly gesture. Hello there, she said in her mind, for words didn’t seem natural coming out of her mouth. It stood up and slowly came towards her. She knelt slowly, still reaching for it. The nose of the jackal touched her hand lightly, sending a shiver through her. This creature was wild and yet it came to her. It licked her hand and she smiled. She leaned closer and began to caress the shiny, coarse coat. It came closer until its muzzle was in the crook of her neck. She sighed as it sniffed at her.

A strange energy began to circulate around her and she realized the jackal was changing form. Startled, she fell back and stared at it. Its canine features were turning into those of a man. Her eyes traveled the shape of the now half-formed being. Right before her eyes it morphed into a gloriously naked man with the most perfect body she’d ever seen. She raised her gaze and stared into the dark eyes. Those familiar dark, sensual eyes beckoned her. She stood then, afraid and curious. He wasn’t human, wasn’t natural. She backed up. Part of her wanted to go to him, part of her wanted to flee.

Don’t run
, his thoughts came to her.

But she turned and ran, blindly. Deep inside, she wanted him to chase her. Run her to ground. Her feet barely felt the grass as she ran. She could hear him behind her, very close. A growl rent the air, then a howl. In seconds she felt his arms about her waist and she tumbled to the ground. He landed on the bottom, but quickly rolled until he was on top, his naked body hovering over her as he settled between her legs. His eyes spoke not a word, but she knew his intention. He grasped the base of his engorged cock and she could feel the tip against her—

“Dr. Michaels.” The woman’s voice jolted her awake. “Are you awake?”

Tessa groaned as her skin tingled from the dream. She felt hot and needy, very unsatisfied. The servant continued. “Mistress Anaise told me to wake you, as you wanted to be up this evening.” Tessa willed her wild heartbeat to calm down. Her mouth was dry and she found she’d been clutching the sheets.

“Uh, thank you,” Tessa rasped out. The servant nodded when she saw that Tessa was awake, and told her if she was hungry to just let her know. With a fully stocked kitchen, there wasn’t anything she couldn’t make. Tessa thanked the other woman again and waited for the tell-tale click of the door latch closing.

“Damn that man,” she muttered. She’d only known him a few hours and he was bothering the hell out of her. She winced again when she picked up the sound of the storm still raging outside. “Great, now I have to spend the night.” Tessa dragged herself out of the bed and went into the bathroom to splash water on her face.

When she came back into the room, she found the adjoining door was open, with Torian leaned deliciously against the doorframe, wearing nothing but a towel. “What do you think you’re doing?” The words were out before she thought about it. “Look, the deal is off about our whole question arrangement,” she stammered.

“You sound as if you won’t make good on the questions I clearly earned.” She had to think about his question, as she couldn’t help but stare at the glistening six-pack before her. Her eyes traveled down to the towel that bulged over his very manly parts. He looked exactly as he had in her dream, at least the parts she could see.

“Um, I plan to. Look, can you go put on something?” She was still aching from her dream, and he wasn’t exactly helping the desire to disappear.

“I don’t think I’ve ever known a doctor to be a prude.” His exotic accent was tinged with teasing.

“I’m not a prude.” She turned around and tried to smooth her wrinkled skirt. She just knew she had bed-head hair. No longer able to resist, she began to try to tame the unruly curls by smoothing her hand across them. “It’s just, I don’t know you, so you shouldn’t be half naked in my room with me.”

“I suppose a better arrangement would be you half naked in my room.” His tone seemed thoughtful, but Tessa could hear the teasing and the dare in his voice. “I take it you noticed the storm outside.”