Blood of the Nile (8 page)

“It’s my turn.
Turn over onto your back and let me climb on top. If you’re lucky, you might
hit a homerun,” Maliyah said, perpetuating the sexual innuendo with the use of the
baseball analogy. No doubt, Ramses was about to score.

Maliyah straddled
his muscled torso. Her knees clung to his narrow hips. She rubbed the head of
his cock over her slick entrance, on the verge of finishing them both off with
another mind-blowing orgasm. As soon as she began to lower herself onto his
manhood, Ramses’ cell phone rang, disrupting the rhythm of her initial thrust.
Its vibration rattled against the wood of the table that sat a few feet away.

Ramses looked
toward the sound. His eyes shot up as he recognized the caller’s name on the
screen. He placed a hand to Maliyah’s thigh, halting her undulations.

“Fuck! Sorry,
habibti
. I’ve got to answer that. It’s the private
investigator working on your father’s case.” He picked Maliyah up and set her
down on top of the mattress. Then, he hopped off the bed and reached for the
phone, sliding his jeans back into place as he answered the call. Ramses held
the receiver in the crook of his neck and slipped out the door of the train compartment
into the hallway.

He obviously doesn’t want me to hear what the private investigator
has to say.
With an irritated sigh, Maliyah rolled
over onto her stomach and pounded her fists into the pillow. Frustrated and
still aching with need.

***

Pacing the hallway
of the train car, Ramses tried to listen to the private investigator’s report. Yet,
the raging hard-on in his pants made the task rather difficult. He could also
taste the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth. He’d had to bite down on the
inside of his cheek to keep Maliyah from eyeing his protruding fangs. Surely,
the shocking discovery would have ended their sensual play.

Jesus Christ, man! Get a grip.

Ramses needed to
concentrate on what the private investigator had to say. He’d hired the
P.I
. himself so as not to draw unneeded attention to Maliyah
or the rest of the Aziz family. They’d already suffered enough and it was his
job to help them put Anwar’s soul to rest once and for all. Ramses contracted
with a man by the name of Boris Rothstein. He was an ex-Israeli Special Forces
officer who specialized in surveillance and
Krav
Maga
, a deadly form of martial arts. As Boris rattled off
details about
Anat’s
location and the description of
the man she’d shacked up with, Ramses patience began to wear thin. He had to
find them before another attempt was made on Maliyah’s life.

Just as he’d
suspected, the maid and her accomplice were on the move. Instead of keeping
themselves hidden in the bustling city of Aswan, they’d holed up in a shack on
the beach on the tiny island of Elephantine, some thirty miles off the coast
from the mainland. That would mean that once he and Maliyah arrived at their
destination, they’d have to ferry a boat to the island in order to track down
their prey.

“Email me a
photograph of the fella she’s with. I’ll need to be able to ID him once we
disembark,” Ramses said, his tongue darting out to moisten his parched lips.
The intense heat of the desert, along with the distinct taste of Maliyah that
lingered in his mouth, had taken a toll on his body. On top of that, he needed
sustenance. He’d been in such a hurry to whisk Anwar’s daughter away, he hadn’t
had time to fulfill his necessity for blood. Unfortunately, forgetfulness had
been par for the course ever since Maliyah arrived. He found it difficult to
focus whenever she was around.

“There’s one more
thing,” the unfamiliar voice came through from the other end of the phone.

“What is it?”
Ramses asked, rubbing his temples that suddenly began to ache.
A consequence of his empty stomach.

“Andreas
Kristopolous
and his new bride are in Elephantine. They’re
on a honeymoon of sorts.”

Shit!
Could one of the oldest vampire family’s in existence be behind
this coupe? Given the fact that Andreas’s father had remained on good terms
with Anwar al Aziz, he’d pretty much written them off as suspects. Nonetheless,
Ramses wasn’t taking any chances with Maliyah’s safety. He’d have to check out
their story to make sure it was legit.

After severing the phone connection, Ramses slid open the door to
their berth. Once inside, he found his companion fast asleep, snuggling into the
heap of muted grey sheets.

That’s probably a blessing.
There’s work to be done.

Ramses eyed the gorgeous brunette lounging on the bed, her full
pouty lips and irresistible curves made concentration difficult. For more than
an hour, he tried to ignore the urge to lie down next to Maliyah and caress her
lush body. But control proved almost impossible. While he tinkered with his
laptop and downloaded the photograph of
Anat’s
co-conspirator, his gaze continually sought her out. Even as he searched Expedia
and booked a rental car and five-star hotel room in Elephantine, he couldn’t
help but take note of the rise and fall of her heaving breasts. She was
breathtaking.
Serene and exquisitely beautiful.

Ramses sighed, annoyed by the sudden erection he felt pulsing
against the inside of his thigh. Thankfully, Maliyah remained peaceful and
asleep. After all, she’d gone through hell and back the last few days. She
didn’t deserve any of it. Not her father’s death or the subsequent threats to
her life.
Especially not a sex-starved vampire vying to get
into her pants.
Pushing himself up from the uncomfortable desk chair
where he sat, Ramses tiptoed toward the bed, careful not to wake the sleeping
woman. He propped himself up on his side. He used his fingers to sweep a stray
tendril of her hair away and get a better glimpse of the angelic expression on
her face.

Soon Ramses’ eyes grew heavy, a consequence of the lack of sleep he
had endured as of late. He’d been so busy researching the maid’s various
indiscretions and making contact with a private investigator that shut eye
remained low on his list of priorities. The safety and comfort of the woman
resting beside him had taken precedence.

As weariness forced his body into slumber, Ramses’ last thoughts
were of her. Never had a female gotten under his skin the way Maliyah had. In
nearly a thousand years of existence, the opposite sex had proved nothing more
than a passing fancy. He’d bedded plenty of willing women in his time, but none
like Anwar’s vibrant, headstrong daughter. Even as a small child, the twinkle
in her green-gold eyes and the dimple that accentuated her crooked grin had an
inexplicable effect on him. Like almighty Cleopatra, Maliyah possessed the
flawless beauty and grace to bring not only him, but all of Egypt to its knees
in humble adoration.

Chapter Ten

The
Island

The shrill sound
of a train whistle jostled Ramses awake. His body jerked forward of its own
volition, drawing closer to Maliyah. The palm that had been resting against the
flesh of her bare thigh became racked with pins and needles. Still his hand
continued to explore, until it unexpectedly grazed the fabric of her floral
print dress.

Hmm. Sometime in the middle of the night, she managed to wrestle her
clothes back into place.

As Ramses’
insatiable need increased, Maliyah’s eyelashes fluttered open, revealing a pair
of sexy, bedroom eyes. Drowsy and sinfully disheveled from their foreplay, her
tongue darted out to moisten her lower lip. Suddenly, all Ramses could think
about was her mouth wrapped around his still-throbbing cock.

Maliyah no doubt
sensed his unbridled desire. However, the moment she reached out to touch him,
the conductor’s loud voice made an announcement over the PA system.

“Next stop…Aswan,”
he shouted in Arabic.

Ramses sprang from
the bed, dragging Maliyah out of the bed. “We need to hurry. This is our stop.”

Quickly, Ramses
powered down his laptop and placed it inside its carrying case, then hurled the
bag over his shoulder. Maliyah moved around the room in a blur gathering up her
belongings and shoving them into the tote she’d stored underneath the bed. She
flung the red paisley necktie at Ramses, the one he’d purposefully draped over
the chair. Much to his disappointment, they hadn’t been able to put that
article of clothing to good use.
At least, not yet.

Once they finished
packing, they got dressed and headed to the center of the train car, ready to
disembark. It was barely five o’clock in the morning and while the sun hadn’t
risen, the heat of the desert hit Ramses like a wall of sweltering flames. His
body remained mostly covered up, including the turban that sheltered his face.
Still, he knew that if they didn’t hire a barge and get to Elephantine soon,
his sensitive skin would be temporarily ravaged with blisters.

So far, Ramses had
been able to keep his true identity under wraps. But Maliyah was smart. Her
relentless attempts at seduction, coupled with his own overactive libido, wouldn’t
allow Ramses to keep up the charade for long. He had no doubt she’d soon uncover
the truth. After all, what excuse could explain away the emergence of a
vampire’s glowing red eyes and sharp, serrated teeth? Ramses knew better than
to pretend that their playful ministrations wouldn’t provoke the beast lying in
wait. Maliyah, he discerned, was his weakness.
His ultimate
prey.

As they stepped
off the train, the sights and sounds of a bustling city came into view. Even in
the early morning hours, vendors had begun set up shop in the marketplace
selling their wares. Everything from silk tapestries to livestock was on
display. About fifty meters to the east, a small group of fishermen and
merchants made preparations for the day. They did so next to an assortment of
vessels and barges that sat anchored to the pier, eager to set sail. Hefting
his luggage over one shoulder and Maliyah’s tote over the other, Ramses headed
toward the docks.

But soon an angry
scowl overshadowed Ramses’ face as onlookers stopped to gawk at Maliyah’s
luminous bare skin. The people of Aswan certainly weren’t accustomed to seeing
people sporting her immodest western style of dress. In the more modern city of
Cairo, it was frowned upon to flaunt one’s body, but not entirely uncommon.
Americans, as well as Europeans, vacationed during the cooler months sporting
the latest fashion trends. Yet here in the much smaller, more traditional town
of Aswan, indecent dress was virtually unheard of. The spaghetti straps of the knee-length
sundress she wore elicited more than a few impudent stares from
passerbys
. Although Maliyah took the entire scene in
stride, sauntering across the wooden planks with her nose turned up in the air.

A gutsy broad if I ever did see one.

“Grab onto my arm
and don’t let go!” Ramses turned and whispered hoarsely into her ear. His dark
orbs had narrowed into barely visible slits, underlying the seriousness of his
command. “That is, unless you’d like to get us both killed.”

Maliyah must have
sensed the eminent danger in their midst. Peering from left to right, her
green-gold eyes seemed to recognize the nature of the men’s purely sexual
intent. The women’s discontent, on the other hand, proved even more flagrant.
In fact, their indignant glowers and sly remarks were hard to ignore.

Once they’d made
their way through the small crowd that had gathered in the marketplace, Ramses
approached an older gentleman who sat huddled on the docks. His weathered
countenance and frail composure appeared the least brutish and intimidating of
the bunch that worked busily beside the pier. The man reached out and opened up
his bony fingers, accepting the quantity of one hundred Egyptian pounds Ramses
offer for safe passage across the river.

Ramses guided
Maliyah onto the small vessel and sat her next to him on a bench that was made
out of what appeared to be waterlogged wooden
palettes
.
Already, he could feel the sun’s
rays
rise above him.
The skin on his forehead, right below the banded ridge of his turban, began to
burn and sting as tiny boils formed. He shifted the headpiece a bit lower, praying
Maliyah wouldn’t notice.

“So we know that
Anat
is holed up somewhere on the island with an
accomplice,” Maliyah said, breaking the silence. “What are we planning to do
once we find them?”

“You mean what do
I
intend to do with them? You, my dear,
won’t need to worry your pretty little head about that,” Ramses replied, reaching
out to cup his lover’s cheek in his head. “It’s bad enough I had to bring you
along in order to draw them out. I made a vow to keep you safe. I intend to
honor that promise.”

All of a sudden,
Maliyah shot up from her location on the planks. Her arms were crossed defiantly
over her chest. Ramses could see her angry expression in the reflection that
bounced off the water’s edge.

“Stop treating me
like
a child!” Maliyah reared on him, her penetrating stare
burning a hole through his already sweltering skin. “No matter what you believe,
I’m no longer Anwar’s helpless daughter. I’m a capable woman and I deserve to
be treated as one.”