Blood of the Nile (9 page)

Treating her like
a woman was exactly what Ramses intended to do. If only, she knew. But with the
old man’s eyes boring into them, Ramses had to think fast.

“
Shh
.” Ramses rushed to Maliyah, wrapping his arms around
her slender waist and drawing her back down into his lap. The fingers on one
hand gently massaged the arch of her spine, while his lips grazed the fine baby
hairs along her brow. The series of soft caresses served as an urgent plea for
his companion to remain calm and collected. “Okay, I’ll tone it down. But you
need to relax. Causing a scene will only make things worse.”

Instantly, Ramses
felt the woman in his arms surrender. Her muscles relinquished their rigid
control. She took in several deep, measured breaths, no doubt meant to help
still the burning rage that roared to life inside of her.

Damn if Maliyah
wasn’t a hothead. But truth be told, her feisty temper proved to be one hell of
a turn on. With their bodies melded together so close, Ramses could already
feel a partial erection coming on. Maliyah’s stubborn pigheadedness, combined
with the vampire prowling below the surface of his human exterior, proved highly
combustible, like a pile of dried brush in the middle of the desert.

For the time being,
Ramses had to keep his cool. Although once they’d settle into their hotel and had
a chance to review any new leads on the case, all bets were off. He’d have no
choice but to blow off some steam. After years of pent up sexual frustration,
the petite brunette would finally experience his wrath.

“How
much longer until we arrive at our hotel?”
Maliyah asked as she turned to face him. Her beaded nipples pressed against the
thin fabric that covered his chest. Her eyes screamed defiance but her body
seemed to yearn for something else entirely. Heat from the sun forced the sweet
aroma of her sex to permeate the early morning air. The addictive scent rose
up, causing his nostrils to flare. If Ramses wasn’t mistaken, Maliyah was
almost as eager as he was to explore their undeniable chemistry.

Let’s just hope my body doesn’t simultaneously combust before we
reach our destination.

***

The moment the
door to the hotel room closed, Maliyah expected their mutual passion to kick
into high gear. Ramses had unceremoniously kicked it shut, then tossed their
belongings onto a nearby chair. The room was a suite, with a small sitting room
that opened up into a larger bedroom with two queen-size beds. Maliyah leaned
against the threshold of the door, waiting for Ramses to advance on her. Unfortunately,
he just stood there staring at her as if dumbfounded.

What the fuck?

Maliyah was the first
to make a move by removing her clothes. She reached down, peeling the sweaty
sundress from her torso, leaving her in nothing more than a pair of scant
undergarments. The scorching heat had caused a layer of natural moisture to
form on her skin.

Ramses’ eyebrows
rose expectantly as she reached out, forcing the turban that covered his head
to fall to the floor. His gaze danced over her naked flesh, while his tongue
darted out to wet his sexy bottom lip. Still, he hesitated. His fingers flexed toward
her bare skin, but their approach stopped short. She had no idea what had
caused her lover’s sudden trepidation. Whatever it was, Maliyah realized she’d
have to be the one to take their relationship to the next level. Blatant sexual
bravado wasn’t her style, but with Ramses, the need to touch him had reached an
unnerving crescendo. After all, she’d been harboring desire for this same man
since she was a pre-pubescent girl.

Maliyah stepped
closer, draping her arms over her lover’s broad shoulders. She leaned in for a
kiss, though before their mouth could make contact, Ramses turned his head away.

“We.
Can’t.
Not. Yet,” he said, grinding out
each syllable as if it had caused him great pain. Eventually he sighed, and
glanced at Maliyah out of the corner of his eye. “Sorry,
habibti
.
There’s work to be done.”

Maliyah let her
arms fall to her sides. Her ego bruised, she turned her back to him. Gathering
her dress off the floor, she slipped it over her head and paced toward the
window; the one that overlooked the hotel’s luxurious salt water pools. She
pushed open the window coverings, letting light filter inside the room. After Ramses’
rejection, she needed something to brighten up her somber mood.

“Fine.
How can I help?” Maliyah asked as if unaffected by the blow to her
confidence. She returned her attention back to her companion. For some reason, Ramses
had shrunk back against the wall farthest from the window, shielding his eyes.
As she walked toward him, she noticed a spatter of faded red blotches that
appeared to mar the skin above his brow and along the flank of his exposed
wrist. Although after a while, the marks seemed to miraculously fade.

“Can we close the
drapes? I’m sensitive to the sun.”

“Of
course.
I never realized,” Maliyah said as she
rushed to pull the heavy shades shut. “Too bad though. It’s such a beautiful
day outside.”

Before long,
they’d hunkered down next to one another at the table. Ramses turned on his
laptop and got to the task at hand. It seemed a lot had transpired since the
night before that he hadn’t had time to share. The private detective he’d hired
had been able to pinpoint
Anat
and her accomplice to
their exact location. Ramses had photographic evidence of their presence in
Elephantine. Neither of them recognized the man in the picture. He was an older
gentleman, probably in his sixties, with grey whiskers and wrinkly, sun-ravaged
skin. In the still image he brought up on the computer screen, the man sat with
Anat
on the porch of a simple abode nestled by the
sea, sipping on
an ice
-cold refreshment. They seemed
completely unaware of the fact that Ramses and Maliyah were on their tail.
Soon, all that would change.

In addition to the
photographs, there were blueprints of the house where they were staying,
including several accessible inlets that surrounded the secluded shack. They
spent quite a bit of time poring over the documents so they could easily find a
way in and out of the area without the risk of being caught. To her surprise,
Ramses was a natural at covert planning and reconnaissance. And she thought his
only talent had been wooing women.

By all accounts,
the two of them would have to remain on the island for an extended period of
time in order to flush out her father’s killer. According to Ramses, they
needed to stake out the place for a few days and learn the killer’s daily routine,
before they could attempt to apprehend him. “There’s more. Your father has
friends visiting the area. They have agreed to help us catch this bastard.”

“Friends
of my father’s?
Who?”

Ramses’ fingers glided
across the keyboard until an image appeared on the screen, this one of two men
standing tall and proud. They shared similar features and Maliyah could tell
they were related, possibly father and son. Both of them had dark skin, the
same squared jaw line, and broad, sturdy builds.

“This is Aristotle
Kristopolous
and his son, Andreas,” Ramses said,
pointing to the men in the photograph. “They own AK Oil International, an oil
refinery and shipping/receiving company that Anwar often did business with.
Look familiar?”

Maliyah squinted,
scratching her right temple with her index finger as she studied the image.
“Vaguely.
They don’t appear to be Egyptian, though. Where
are they from?”

“Athens,
originally.
But nowadays their company is
headquartered in New York City.”

“That’s where I’ve
seen them!” Maliyah slammed her palm on the small, round table as she finally
put the dots together in her memory. “Before I moved to Italy, I attended some fancy
soiree with my father at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. These two
fellows were there. They’re big time benefactors of the arts.”

“That’s them.
Anyways, Andreas and his new bride, Eva, are in town on their honeymoon. At
first, I wasn’t sure if we could trust them. But after doing some digging, it
looks like they might be able to help with the investigation.”

“How
so?”
Maliyah asked, her voice giving away a hint
of hesitation.

“Andreas’s wife
Eva works in law enforcement. She’s got connections that will come in handy if
we need them.”

Suddenly, Maliyah
grew quiet. She bit the inside of her cheek, not wanting to think about the
words that were fighting to slip from her lips. Could they trust these people?
To her, they were virtual strangers, it didn’t matter that one of them happened
to work in law enforcement. What if the
Kristopolous
family turned out to be behind her father’s murder plot? As Ramses and her
cousins had quickly pointed out, her father’s business associates were at the
top of their list of suspects.

Once again,
Maliyah faced a difficult dilemma. In order to uncover the truth, she had to
put her faith in others, something she’d never been accustomed to. Even as a
child, she was weary. Trust proved to be a character trait she often lacked,
particularly after life as she knew it had been torn apart by her parent’s
divorce.

That singular
tragedy had changed her life completely and helped to shape the person she had
become. Stubborn, strong-willed, and fiercely independent, she hated to rely on
others. Over the years, she avoided anyone or anything with the potential to
hurt her. Instead, she became utterly self-sufficient. Relationships,
especially romantic ones, were a casualty, with which she refused to waste time
or effort.

But now that her
father’s fate hung in the balance, she couldn’t let fear paralyze her. Still,
her gut feeling told her not to let anyone else get too close. She felt
compelled to once again cover up her self-doubt with sarcasm and sharp-witted
banter. Although she knew that she had to be truthful and let Ramses in on her reservations.
If the
Kristopolous
family was allowed to assist them
with the investigation, and they turned out to be the ones responsible for her
father’s demise, Maliyah would never forgive herself. It’d be like fraternizing
with the enemy.

“I’m not so sure I
like this idea,” Maliyah said, rubbing the suddenly stiff muscles at the base
of her neck. “How do you know we can trust them?”

“Maliyah, the same
could be said of me. Like I said, I’ve done my research and I’m very thorough.
They’re good to go.” Ramses reached around from behind the chair where his
companion sat, drawing her close. He grabbed her hand, the one that clasped behind
her neck, and entwined their fingers. He squeezed lightly. “Don’t worry; I
won’t let anything happen to you,
habibti
. Trust me.”

“So said the
spider to the fly,” she replied with a mischievous grin.

“Very
funny.”
Ramses released her hand and stood,
mussing his hand in her hair as he stepped away from the table and stretched.
“I’m spent.
Unlike you
, I didn’t
sleep well on the train. Mind if I take a nap before scoping out
Anat’s
hideout?”

“Not
at all.
I think I’ll head down to the pool and
catch some rays.
Unlike you
, I’m not
afraid to tan my backside,” Maliyah said, feeding into their playful exchange.

“
Aint
nothing wrong with your backside, sweetheart,” Ramses
said as he smacked Maliyah gently on the rear. He sauntered into the adjoining
bedroom and flopped down on one of the two mattresses.
“Fine
by me.
As far as I can tell, no one else knows we’re here. But be
careful.”

Chapter Eleven

The Heat

Ramses’ eyelids
twitched as light from the hallway spilled in through the open door. In the
faint shadows, he could make out Maliyah’s unmistakable silhouette. She tiptoed
softly into the hotel room, trying her best not to make a sound. She wore a
white one-piece swimsuit with gold metallic accents and a matching wrap that
hugged her thighs just below the waist. Her long, golden-brown tresses fell in flowing
waves past the arch of her spine.

Ramses groaned as
he glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand a few feet away, and read the
time. It was still afternoon – barely five o’clock.
Too early
for a vampire to rise.
But with a tempting morsel slinking onto the
mattress of the bed adjacent to his, he didn’t have a chance in hell of falling
back to sleep.

Maliyah must have
sensed him stir. She turned to face him and propped her head up on one elbow. A
beaming smile spread across her sun-kissed complexion.

“Wake up,
sleepyhead.”

“Hey,
gorgeous.
Did you enjoy yourself at the pool?”
Ramses asked as he braced his palms in the center of the mattress and lifted
himself up off the bed. As he did so, he watched Maliyah’s eyes roam over the
rippled muscles of his bare chest. He slept in nothing more than a pair of
loose-fitting gym shorts. Ramses stood abruptly,
then
walked
over to the table in the far corner of the room. It’d been a while since he’d
fed and he needed something moist to coat his scratchy throat. He dropped a few
ice cubes and poured some bottled water into a glass, chugging the contents in
a single gulp.