Journey to the Lost Tomb (Rowan and Ella Book 2) (38 page)

“Gold,” he said.

           
“Yes,”
Julia said, reaching out to stroke his chest. “I can show you where. I can show
you how.”

           
She
could see she had his interest. He reached up to stop her from touching him but
his eyes were on her mouth now. He was listening.

           
“Every
week,
Effendi
Carter pays his men
much gold. He keeps it in a small box and I know where. Tomorrow, Ammon.
Tomorrow the gold will come to the camp and we can take it.”

           
Without
warning, he reached for her and pulled her onto him. A thrill went through her.
It had been months since he had wanted her twice in one night.
And never on top
. She opened her hips
and slid him inside her and began to move slowly up and down on his stiff shaft.
Within seconds, she arched her back and flung her head back as the familiar exquisite
pleasure began to radiate up from her core to her fingertips. She felt his hard
and callused hands cover her breasts as she rode him higher and higher until
the release burst through her in a ragged scream of ecstasy.

           
He
had heard her. And he had answered.

KV62, Howard Carter’s Camp

           
“After
everything that’s happened, will someone please tell me why they’re letting that
douchebag sit down with the rest of us like there’s nothing wrong?” Ella whispered
to Rowan as they watched Viscount Digby take his place at the other end of the dining
table.

           
Marvel
and Spenser sat opposite Ella and Rowan with Digby and Howard Carter anchoring both
ends. In some ways, Ella couldn’t believe she was back here after all these
months—after everything that had happened. She suddenly found she missed
Julia and was surprised to realize she hadn’t thought of her in months.

           
“I
am delighted to have you all here tonight,” Carter said, nodding to Rowan in
particular, “and I believe I have an announcement of some special merit.”

           
“That’s
an understatement,” Spenser said wryly.

           
Carter
chuckled. “Yes, well, Mr. Spenser, you must allow me my little wit now and
then. So, very well, it is an announcement of
very
special merit.”

           
“You’ve
found the tomb?” Digby blurted. Clearly, Carter was attempting a little
dramatic reveal that Digby had effectively ruined.

           
The
rest of the table reacted as if Digby hadn’t spoken and so, after an annoyed
look in his direction, Carter continued. “I have recently sent a wire to Lord
Carnarvon,” Carter said, “asking for his immediate presence—at his earliest
convenience, of course.”

           
“You’ve
found something,” Rowan said, grinning.

           
Carter
returned Rowan’s grin. “We bloody well have,” he said. “Excuse the language,
ladies.”

           
“What
is it?” Marvel asked. She looked luminous tonight, Ella couldn’t help but
notice. She really did have exquisite skin and it was spectacularly set off by
her blushes which she seemed to do pretty much constantly. Ella glanced at Spenser
who hadn’t taken his eyes off Marvel since they sat down.
That’s what being in love will do to you,
she thought.
It makes an already pretty girl even
prettier
.

           
“Well,
I must say, we have discovered something,” Carter said. “Something pretty
extraordinary.” He took a teasingly long sip of his wine and the table groaned
and complained good-naturedly. “Well, alright,” he said, “if you must have the
truth, we’ve found the tops of a set of stairs.” He paused dramatically. “They
are leading to what I believe is a private chamber. A private
royal
chamber.”

           
“King
Tutankhamun,” Rowan said in a hushed voice of awe. Ella couldn’t help but look
at him. She knew he loved history and now he was here when it was all
happening. He looked like he was glowing with excitement.

           
“
Exactement
,” Carter said, his tone of
awe matching Rowan’s as if he couldn’t believe it himself.

           
“Does
anybody else know?” Marvel asked in a loud stage whisper, making everyone
laugh.

           
“No,
my dear,” Carter said, “and that’s the point. Those vultures out there on the
camp’s perimeter must not know how close we are.” He looked at Spenser. “I’ve
got three men guarding the steps and they need to be relieved for
round-the-clock posting.”

           
Spenser
nodded. “I’ll see to it,” he said.

           
“In
fact,” Carter said, “I hate to ask, Josh, but if you could see to it,
personally, tonight? Hope that won’t interfere with any plans, old boy.”
Carter’s eyes twinkled but Ella could see he was serious, too.

           
“Of
course not,” Spenser said, his face flushing a bit. “I’ll head over there
straight after dinner.”

           
“Good
man. Thank you.” It seemed to Ella that Carter gave a nod of thanks to Marvel
too but she might have imagined that.
Surely
Marvel and Spenser weren’t a couple in that sense already? While it’s true
they’re both American, this is still 1922.

           
As
dinner progressed, Ella found herself more and more impatient to be alone with
Rowan. She didn’t think she would ever get enough of being with him and she
liked it best when he had his arms around her and she could feel his breathing
and smell his familiar scent. She was about to nudge him under the table to get
him moving in that direction when Marvel turned to her and asked her a
question.

           
“I’m
sorry,” Ella said, “could you repeat that, Miss Newton?”

           
“I
said, I understand that you and Rowan will be leaving us tomorrow?”

           
“Yes,”
Ella said, glancing at Rowan and wondering when he had told Marvel. “We’re going
to Luxor tomorrow to catch the first boat to Cairo.”

           
Ella
frowned as Rowan excused himself to join Carter over by the chess table with a
glass of brandy. She hoped he wasn’t thinking of playing a game. Her feet hurt.
Her back ached. The baby was using her kidneys as a punching bag and she wanted
to be alone with her husband.

           
“Well,
I’ve been graciously allowed to stay on at KV62,” Marvel said, casting a shy
look at Spenser, “but I told Rowan that you are both welcome to stay in my
suite of rooms at Shepheards for as long as you are in Cairo.”

           
What
was there about this woman that hit Ella wrong? She seemed just as nice as she
could be. But there was something…

           
“Thank
you very much, Miss Newton.”

           
“Please
call me Marvel. Everybody does.”

           
“Okay,
Marvel. Thanks. But I don’t expect we’ll be staying in the city long.”

           
“Oh?
Will you be sailing back to New York?”

           
She
caught the motion of Rowan turning toward her and she knew she’d put her foot
in it. She patted her belly and said, “Well, first we’ve got a baby to get born
and I’m not sure what our plans are beyond that.”

           
Bringing
up the baby or her pregnancy seemed to embarrass Marvel and Ella was ashamed to
realize that it pleased her a little. Before the conversation could go any
further, however, Rowan was by her side with his hand on her elbow.

           
“Ready
to go, little mother?” he said lightly.

           
“Funny
man,” she said as she heaved herself out of the dining chair and watched it
fall over backward into the dust. One of the camp servants leapt for it.
“Sorry. Guess I’m a little clumsy these days.”

           
Rowan
said goodnight to the table and led her back to their tent, his hand firmly on
the small of her back guiding her to ensure she didn’t stumble.

           
Once
back in their tent, Ella kicked off her shoes and sank onto the bed with a
groan. Rowan peeled back the tent flap and joined her on the bed. The two of
them sat there and looked out at the dark-blue of the night sky, a panoply of
stars scattered before them like gold dust on a velvet background.

“Have I told you
how many times I looked up at the stars and wondered where you were?” Ella said
softly. She reached for his hand.

           
“I
did the same thing.”

           
“I
can’t believe we found each other again,” she said.

           
“I
don’t think I ever really doubted it.” He turned to her and put his hand to her
chin and kissed her gently but completely.

           
When
they separated, there were tears in her eyes. “We were fools in Dothan,” she
said. “Both of us, such stupid fools.”

           
“I
know.”

           
“For
one thing, we were already damn married but we acted like we still needed to do
that.”

           
“I
know. It was for our families.”

Ella didn’t
respond. The stars glittered even more brightly, if that was possible.

“How will it be
when we go back?” she asked.

“I don’t know,”
he said, sighing. He put his hand on her belly. “It’ll be different this time,”
he said. “I know that much.”

“I
wonder.” She stood and slipped out of her shawl and jacket, dropping them to
the floor of the tent. She knew he was watching her. “I kind of hated hearing
how close they are to finding Tut,” she said, turning to look at him.
“Especially since it’s because
you
steered him where to dig.
           
Rowan
shrugged and looked away. “He would’ve found him eventually.”

“I hate that you
aren’t going to be here for all the excitement.”

He stood and
placed his hand back on her belly. “I won’t miss a minute of the excitement I
really care about,” he said.

“But King Tut
only gets discovered once in a thousand lifetimes. And you’re here,
now
.”

“I don’t regret
missing it,” he said.

“Liar.” But she
smiled at him. “When will Carnarvon get here? Maybe we have time to go to
Cairo, go back to 2013, have the baby…”

He touched her
cheek and smiled ruefully. “And what? Come back?”

She sat back down
on the bed and began to roll her stockings down. “Yeah, I guess not,” she said.
“Digby was awfully quiet at dinner.”

“Wonder what he’s
up to,” Rowan muttered. “Not sure it was smart to come right out and tell him
you were going to the authorities in Cairo.”

“I thought about
that,” she admitted. “It just means the sooner we get to Cairo, the better on
all
accounts.”
 
She stood up in nothing but her chemise
and put her hands on his shoulders. “I’m not at all achy tonight,” she said.
“And I’ve been thinking if we were very, very slow and careful…”

Rowan groaned but
slid his hands to her waist. “After all this time, I’m not sure how slow and careful
I can be,” he said in a low, hoarse voice.

Ella undid his
belt with one hand and reached into the front his trousers. “Oh, I bet you can
find a way,” she said, her eyes bright with desire.

           
Hours
later, the voice whispering to Rowan sounded like it was coming from within his
dream. His extremely pleasant dream. But when he shifted on the narrow cot and
felt for Ella’s hip, he knew it wasn’t a dream. His eyes flew open and he swung
his feet to the floor while he tried to adjust to the darkness. The tent flap,
now closed against the chill of the night, was moving as if someone had just
come in. He fought to see in the gloom.

           
“
Effendi
! It is Ra! Are you awake?
Effendi
?”

           
Son of a bitch.
Rowan stood and pulled
on his khaki trousers and grabbed a shirt. He glanced quickly at Ella to see that
she was beginning to stir. He went to the entrance of the tent.

           
“What
the hell, Ra?” he said, blinking from the light of Ra’s lantern.

           
“
Effendi
, you must come at once!” Ra
whispered loudly. He looked over his shoulder as if fearful someone was coming
down the path.