The Concubine’s Tale Read online

  The boy hesitated, looking to the goat as if it might give him permission to answer. “Horeb is my father’s brother,” he said finally. “His house is that way.” He pointed down the street with one skinny arm.

  Khanu nodded. He regretted having nothing to give the boy as a reward, but made a note to repay the kindness someday if he could. He took Nayari’s hand and drew her forward.

  “Who is Horeb?” she asked. The worried look in her golden eyes made him long to comfort her.

  “A friend. He will help us.”

  Khanu recognized the house of his friend at the end of the street. Years had passed since Khanu had left to train as a warrior. Horeb had remained, apprenticed to his older brother as a weaver of mats and baskets. Khanu offered a silent prayer to the gods that Horeb remembered their boyhood friendship as well as he did.

  A small, round woman met them at the door of Horeb’s home. She was so heavy with child, her hips practically touched both sides of the narrow doorway at once. Though she gave Khanu a wary look, she smiled at Nayari.

  “Are you the wife of Horeb?” he asked.

  “I am,” she replied, her arched brows knitting together. “But he is not here right now.”

  “I am Khanu, his friend from many years back.”

  “Khanu?” A voice boomed from behind the woman.

  Khanu exchanged a glance with Nayari.

  The pregnant woman shrugged. “I thought he was not home.” The woman blushed. Obviously the sight of a warrior at their door made some people uneasy.

  She moved aside, maneuvering her girth around a reed-thin man with a short, black beard and a completely bald head. Horeb. He’d aged in the intervening years. Worry lines creased the sides of his mouth, and there were strands of silver hair in his beard. He looked a decade older than Khanu now, though they shared their birth year.

  Horeb smiled, showing even, white teeth, and reached a sinewy hand to grasp Khanu’s thickly muscled forearm.

  “The life of a warrior agrees with you, my friend. Forgive Setma. She is cautious.”

  “A good woman is cautious,” Khanu said. “And very wise. Setma and Horeb, this is Nayari.”

  Setma waddled forward again, pushing her husband aside. She wrapped Nayari in a hug and patted her cheek in a motherly fashion. “The wife of Horeb’s oldest friend is my friend. Welcome to our home.”

  Khanu’s smile faltered. Dare he tell Horeb the truth? Yes, but not here in the courtyard where anyone might overhear.

  “We ask a favor, Horeb. I pray our friendship will bear it.”

  “Anything I have is yours, my friend.” Horeb clapped Khanu on the shoulder and drew him into the house. “Come in and tell me what I can do for you.”

  Chapter Five

  Cait pulled Grant’s tie slowly out of his collar and draped it around her neck. She kissed him and swung one leg over his waist so that she straddled him on the couch.

  “I surrender,” he said, holding up his hands. She leaned forward, her hands on his chest, and settled herself carefully over his hips. She liked being in control, he decided. She’d slowed him down before, clearly not because she was uncertain if she wanted their evening to continue on to intimacy, but because she wanted to take charge and set the pace.

  Fine by me, he thought. He looked up into her eyes, dilated by her growing desire, and wondered why he hadn’t made it a point to ask her out sooner. That cold, business-like exterior was obviously nothing more than a necessary professional veneer, hiding the warm, intriguing woman underneath. He’d wasted so much time wondering why she disliked him, only to finally discover he’d been reading her wrong all this time.

  He sighed when she popped the two top buttons on his shirt. “Now we’re even.” She leaned forward again, raising her hips to relieve the mounting pressure under his fly.

  “One thing I need to know,” he said before her lips reached his. She looked at him and caught her lower lip seductively between her teeth. “Are you going to finish the story tonight? Are you sure you want to take it all the way to the end?”

  Her expression told him she understood his meaning. It wasn’t the story he wanted to finish-or at least that wasn’t all he wanted to play out to the end tonight.

  “Hmm.” She hummed her response, arched and came down on him again. Her hands explored the button on his pants. “We’ll go all the way to the end…and then some.”

  He smiled and reached up to claim the next button on her blouse. Three to go. “Now we’re not even anymore.”

  Nayari folded the top of her dress down around her waist and soaked a cloth in cool water for bathing. It felt good to wash away the dust of their hurried journey through the marketplace, and the prospect of spending a night safe in Horeb’s home made her feel something close to contentment. Though she’d expected to live out the rest of her days under Baakah’s rule in Ammonptah’s home, Nayari had never felt as comfortable there as she did now with her stomach full of a hearty meal prepared by Setma and the knowledge that Horeb would hide them in his cellar if anyone came looking.

  Despite her newfound calm, she stiffened when she heard footsteps behind her. She felt Khanu’s gaze on her bare back.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low. The sound of it made her skin tingle and her nipples rise to hard peaks. She remained still, resisting the desire to turn around and face him.

  “For what?” She held her breath after the question, fearful of his answer.

  “I’m sorry I did not tell Horeb and Setma that you are not my wife. I would have, but perhaps it’s better if they know less of the truth. No one can force them to tell what they do not know.”

  Nayari sighed. “Of course. I agree. That’s wise.”

  “Tomorrow, before sunrise, Horeb will take us to a cave in the desert where we can hide safely for a few days. From there we can join a passing caravan and journey to Wa-Set.”

  “Horeb is a good friend. You’re lucky to know him.”

  Khanu bowed his head. “I am fortunate he remembers me. I’ve been gone from here a long time and when I left, I believed I would never have cause to return.”

  “I can see he’s honored by your visit. He respects your strength.”

  “Yet I’m the one who is envious of him. I would not have expected to find his life appealing after all these years in service to Ammonptah.”

  Nayari stared at her warrior. He’d achieved a position many men would have risked death to attain. “You would trade your station for a life like Horeb’s?”

  “I have already traded my life away. To have one such as Horeb’s in return would be a great gift.”

  Nayari nodded. She barely heard the words. The longing in his eyes stirred her, and his voice carried her like a caress. Her body began to ache for his touch.

  Khanu dismissed his melancholy mood with a wave. “We must share this room tonight, but I will sleep on the floor.” His voice became tight. “I will return when you’ve finished bathing.”

  “No.” Suddenly bold, Nayari turned. “Stay.”

  Khanu’s eyes locked with hers, but she felt him everywhere. His heat enveloped her body, chasing away the chill of the cool water. She dropped one hand and loosened the belt at her waist. Her dress fell silently around her feet, and she held her hands out to him.

  “If Horeb and Setma believe we are wed, then we must behave as such.” She wondered if Khanu saw her trembling, if he heard the thundering of her heartbeat as well as she did.

  He closed the distance between them with one step and drew her against him. “It will not be for just one night,” he whispered against her ear. Nayari’s legs became weak. Her body molded against his, and she felt the hard shaft of his cock against her belly.

  “Do you want me, warrior?” she asked, stroking the back of his neck and pressing herself against him. “Do you want me as your wife?”

  “I could not ask the gods for anything more.”

  “Then I am yours.”

  “But what can I offer you except a l
ife of hardship? All I can promise you is that we may never be able to stop running away from Ammonptah.”

  Nayari bowed her head and smiled. “A life running with you will surpass even a single day resting in luxury as the slave of a powerful wizard. You’ve offered me the world, Khanu, and I accept.”

  A moment later she gasped when Khanu’s hands found her bottom and lifted her against him. He moved skillfully toward the wide cot, made for two to share, and lay down, settling her atop him.

  With eager hands she removed his belt, and he bucked his hips up to allow her to remove his wrap and loincloth. When she settled herself again, it was against the hot, bare skin of his erection. She squeezed her thighs around his hips and lowered herself until the soft tip touched her intimate entrance.

  “I am at your mercy, Nayari. I will do only what you ask of me.”

  She arched her back, reveling in the solid form beneath her. “Touch me, Khanu. Touch me inside.”

  He grasped her hips and brought her down quickly. She cried out, unconcerned that Horeb and Setma might hear. Considering Setma’s state, they would certainly not question the sounds of desire coming from the room. Khanu filled her, deeply and completely, and when she moved with him, rising slowly then taking him deeper still, a feeling spread through her that she’d never known.

  Khanu guided her, held her, and helped her, caressing and cupping her body, arching his hips each time she came down on him. Within her, the most delicious pressure built, a feeling of strength and power she’d never experienced even when she lay under Ammonptah and he reminded her of his coveted position as a magistrate and brother to the pharaoh.

  At this moment, Nayari was no longer a possession, yet she was more cherished than she’d ever been before. She was no longer a body slave, and yet she felt in her heart that she belonged to Khanu in every way.

  She curled herself forward, moaning as her body spasmed within. Beneath her hands, his sweat-slick skin hardened. His muscles became like steel, and his body shuddered. He held her with his gaze and clutched her tightly. With a final claiming thrust, he spilled his seed within her and, when his breath finally escaped, he whispered her name reverently as a prayer to the gods.

  “Praise to Min,” Nayari whispered against his chest. His heart pounded beneath her breasts, and his lips found the soft spot at the base of her ear and nuzzled, causing shock waves of pleasure to rush through her exhausted limbs.

  “Perhaps he smiles on us because we saw his sacred ritual in the temple.”

  “I’ve wanted you since that moment,” Nayari confessed. Heat washed over her face, and Khanu chuckled. “Had we been going into the temple, rather than out, I’d have thrown myself atop you the moment we were alone.”

  “We are alone now, and you are atop me. Perhaps we could-”

  “Khanu! Nayari!” Horeb’s urgent whisper interrupted their breathless conversation. Nayari’s blood ran cold as she removed herself from Khanu and scrambled for her discarded dress.

  “There are soldiers at the edge of town. We must hide you now.”

  Cait had barely gotten to Horeb’s warning when Grant rose and captured her in his arms. The image of Nayari and Khanu clinging to each other, taking sustenance from each other in the tiny room, tumbled through her mind when Grant released the hem of her blouse from the waistband of her skirt.

  He sent a line of fiery kisses down her neck and spread her shirt wide. She threw her head back and let out an encouraging moan when he dragged the lacy strap of her bra off one shoulder. When his lips closed over her nipple, she cupped the back of his head to hold him there, urging him to feast on the hardened peak.

  The ancient lovers faded from her imagination, but the heat of their passion remained. The ember of desire became a flame that engulfed Cait and Grant, growing hotter when he rose from the couch and pulled her to her feet. While she worked the buttons of his shirt, he pulled off her skirt and slid his fingers into her panties. She caught her breath when he found the hot center of her desire and caressed her clit.

  “Oh, yes!” She clung to his bare shoulder, resisted the urge to sink her teeth into his skin.

  “You like that?” His husky whisper in her ear made her whole body quiver. She nodded and gasped when he dipped a finger inside her. A tease, a taste… He unhooked her bra expertly with one hand and let it fall to the floor. “Couch or bed?” he asked.

  “Right here.” She nipped the base of his jaw with her teeth. “Right now.”

  He had her on the floor in an instant, cradling her with one arm against the soft pile of the carpet. The firm surface of the floor at her back made Cait feel wanton and sexy. She reveled in the feeling of being held motionless beneath him while he explored her body with his free hand.

  “Take these off,” he said, tugging on her panties. “I’ve got to find my pants for a second.”

  “Condom in the side table drawer.” She winked, shimmied her underwear off and kicked the frothy lace toward the couch.

  He gave her a wry smirk as he leaned over and pulled the narrow drawer open. “I like a woman who’s prepared for anything.”

  “Don’t get the wrong idea-” She gave him an innocent look and reached for him as he knelt between her legs.

  “That you had this planned in advance, or that you just like doing it on the living room rug?” His voice dropped, and he gave her a gleefully evil look before he tore the foil packet open. She squirmed in anticipation as he rolled the condom on and trapped his hips with her legs when he settled across her.

  “Both.” She sighed, grasped the back of his neck and bit her lower lip as he slid inside her.

  “So…what’s the right idea?” He nuzzled her neck, drew his teeth over a sensitive spot above her collarbone and began to move with an easy rhythm that sent her spiraling.

  “I… I…didn’t have any expectations for tonight.”

  “Me neither. In fact, I always thought you didn’t like me. I don’t know why I waited so long.” He sighed into her ear, and one hand made a lazy journey down her side, igniting the nerve endings before resting on her hip. He tightened his grip there and increased the urgency of his movements.

  “Funny, I thought the same thing.” Cait felt the wave building, and again she thought of Nayari and her first time as the object of a man’s desire, rather than just an object. The expression in Grant’s dark eyes had to be the same as the one in Khanu’s had been-a longing fulfilled, a need sated.

  She hung on, digging her fingertips into the hard muscles of his shoulders. With her legs locked around him, she rode the wave until they came together in an explosion that stretched across the ages.

  He kissed her again, languidly, while she shuddered around him. “Now, before we continue this, what happened to our lovers?”

  Cait closed her eyes and let the sensation wash over her. Grant rolled over and pulled her onto his chest, wrapped his arms around her and fixed her with a sober gaze.

  “The gods must have been smiling on them,” she replied finally, her voice low and sleepy. She reached up to trace the hard line of his jaw, and when she found his lips, he kissed her fingertips. “The soldiers were looking for Benak-Ra, the wizard.”

  “The scroll tells that?”

  “The narrative does-apparently all the details of the story came out years later. Rumors of Benak-Ra’s involvement in a plot to harm Seti came to the fore. He fled into the city, and the soldiers were searching for him.”

  “Nayari and Khanu couldn’t have known that at the time.”

  “No. They hid in the cellar of Horeb’s home that night, and Khanu asked Nayari if she wanted to go home. He offered to make up a story-that he’d kidnapped her-so she could return to Ammonptah unharmed.”

  “But Ammonptah would still have given her to Benak-Ra. They couldn’t have known Benak-Ra was on the run.”

  “Khanu wanted it to be Nayari’s choice. He knew they’d face a lot of hardships in hiding from Ammonptah, especially if his plot succeeded. They had no choice
but to leave Egypt and make a life for themselves somewhere else.”

  “She didn’t take him up on the offer.” Grant shifted and settled Cait into the crook of his arm, then shifted again. “Can we move?”

  “Come to the bedroom.” She untangled her legs from his and rose. She stretched for him, and noted with satisfaction that she wouldn’t have long to wait for a repeat performance. “I’ll finish the story in there.”

  With Grant trailing behind her, Cait stopped to retrieve another condom from the drawer, then sauntered into her bedroom. She never sauntered, but it felt right somehow, sexy and fun.

  With a wink, she pulled back the thick comforter, exposing almond colored sheets of Egyptian cotton. Funny that Nayari and Khanu probably slept on straw mats and thought them luxuriantly comfortable.

  Grant slipped into the bed. “Nice room.” He pulled her close. His warmth surrounded her, and she sighed.

  “To answer your question, no. Nayari didn’t let Khanu sacrifice himself for her. She wanted him with her always, and she couldn’t bear the thought of going back to Ammonptah. She pledged herself to Khanu and agreed to accept whatever life had to throw at them. The next morning, just as planned, Horeb led them into the desert.”

  The cave to which Horeb led them was nothing like Khanu expected. He’d imagined a dark, damp hole where they would huddle in fear of every sound, waiting for a safe time when Ammonptah would no longer care what happened to them. Instead, Horeb took them to a wide, sunlit grotto of rock near an oasis of tangled palm trees and low bushes. A spring bubbled up amid a pile of smooth stones, and the water was cool and clear.

  “Others must know about this place, Horeb. Can you be sure we’ll be safe here?” he asked his friend. He hated to sound ungrateful, but a magical spot like this would not remain unknown for long.

  “I come here often. I discovered it when Setma and I were younger. We spent quite a bit of time here…alone.” Horeb winked.

  Khanu turned to look for Nayari, who had wandered off beneath an overhang of striated rock. She sat on a smooth shelf of sandstone that looked to be the perfect shape for sleeping. She sighed, and her eyes drifted closed as she relaxed against the warm stone. He prayed they were as safe and content as she looked. The journey had been long and exhausting, and she needed to rest, but Khanu wasn’t sure he’d be able to enjoy their solitude.