Called to Duty (Adventures Through Time) (4 page)

“Why don’t you get to it?” Mitchell looked at him as if the question should be answered. He couldn’t answer him. He didn’t just like her. He was falling in love with her. That had never happened to him before. Maybe it was lust, he had thought, but then when he started thinking she could die on that battlefield and the pain that thought caused in his gut, he was sure it was deeper than lust. “Come on, just go with it okay? We don’t know how long we’re going to be here. Why waste the time and opportunity?”

“That’s just it,” he grumbled. “We don’t know how long we’re going to be here.” He got up from the table, and walked away. He had no appetite now because the thought of leaving her behind had taken it from him. He would love to take her back to his time, but what did he have to offer her? In her world and her time she ruled as a Nubian queen. In his world she wouldn’t have that rule. She wouldn’t have the freedoms to be who she is without profiling or tension because of the color of her skin.

He shook his head just thinking about the difference. They had come there and nobody in the region resembled them, yet they were welcome. He would love to take her back with them, but he couldn’t. Even if she wanted to go he knew her leaving her people wasn’t an option. Plus, how could they know whatever brought him there would allow her to travel forward.

“Hello,” her soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “You are not far from my chambers; did you miss me?” She smiled at him as he turned to face her. He had missed her, so much so that he hadn’t realized he had walked over toward where she slept. “Why are you not with the others?”

“I wasn’t hungry.”

“You must eat, Alexander. You must keep up your strength.”

“I’m okay,” he mumbled.

“Are you? I am not sure I am,” she admitted as she came to stand beside him on the terrace.

“What’s wrong? Do you need me to get your brother?”

“My brother cannot help me with my ailment. I wish to have you,” she looked up into his eyes. “I wish to have you as mine and I know it cannot be. When the war is over the goddess will send you home and I will stay here without you. It hurts to know that soon you will leave me.”

He reached his hand out, ready to brush his fingers across her cheek, but then he stopped. He was not supposed to touch the queen in such manners.

“Please,” she whispered. “Please caress me?” He couldn’t resist her plea. He placed his palm against her cheek and allowed his thumb to smooth over the softness of her skin.

“For as long as I live I shall never forget the feelings you bring to me,” she whispered with her eyes closed. “I shall never forget this.”

And just as quickly as his caress started the call from Inka broke them from the moment. “Come to me tonight,” she whispered in his ear before ducking inside the palace and disappearing.

“There you are. Have you seen my sister?”

“She’s probably in her room,” he said. If she weren’t there yet she would be soon. She wasn’t far from it to begin with.”

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “Perhaps she just refuses to open her door. She is in a mood lately. I think it is because she knows she will have to marry once this war is over.”

“Have to?”

“She is the queen. She must produce an heir to the throne.”

“Surely she should have time to decide if this is what she wants.”

“It is her duty now. It is the price she pays for the position she has been entrusted with. It is why I did not wish it upon myself. I have no desire to be tied to this place. I am a warrior.”

“Duty,” he snorted. “What about love?”

“If she loves one then it will be he who she marries. If she does not love one then she will marry Helos as my father planned. He discussed it with me weeks before he died.”

Alex felt his fingers curling into tight balls. He didn’t think it was right or fair for her to have to marry somebody she didn’t love. She loved him. He could feel it when he looked in her eyes. Maybe it was too soon, but he knew—he just knew. He could be the man for her, but he couldn’t stay and she couldn’t go with him which meant it could never be. She wanted him to come to her tonight. Every part of him knew he should say no; he should go back to his sleeping space and leave it be, but he couldn’t. He would go to her. They would have their night together, and tomorrow they would prepare to ride off into battle together.

“Are you coming to the festivities? There will be many beautiful women around.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“I don’t think so,” Alex refrained from telling him exactly why. “I like to relax and prepare for battle in my own way.”

“Understood.” He patted his shoulder. “I shall see you in the morning. The plan is to ride out by the next dawn.”

“I thought we were leaving come morning.”

“Change of plans. We will leave day after. I planted a seed to see if our enemies within would bite.” He chuckled.

Alex wasn’t going to complain. He had an extra day to spend with Nefertari before they would all be called to duty. And as Inka walked away, Alex knew exactly where his feet would carry him. They would carry him to her.

When he walked into her chamber he made sure nobody saw him enter; it’s why he chose to enter from the terrace. She was waiting for him. Her sexy attire was meant for sleeping, in this case, for removing and he couldn’t wait to remove it from her body and explore the seductive, sensuous curves that lie underneath the light weight fabric of her royal purple gown.

“What took you so long?” She taunted him with the smooth timbers of her voice. He was drawn to her, ached for her in ways he hadn’t ached for another woman. This was insane, but he didn’t care about the insanity. He wanted her and he was going to have her.

“Your brother felt the need to talk with me. Apparently we are not leaving tomorrow.”

“I know,” she winked at him. “That was partially my idea. I wanted a little more time with you before we head into battle. It was selfish of me; I know, but one must take the good things when they come. You never know when the gods will call you to their service. Now, close the terrace doors before you proceed any farther.”

He had forgotten about the doors. He couldn’t think straight for the sexual fog in his brain. He turned, walked back to the oversized doors and closed them with minimal effort before securing the sliding lock on the doors.

“Come,” she held her hand out to him and he willing went to her. “I will protect you,” she assured him. “Do not be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid.”

She laughed. “Then you are a worthy man to fight with us. The goddess knew what she was doing when she brought you here.”

“I’m a skilled warrior in my time too, Nefertari.”

“I know, but that is not of what I am referring to. There are no men here who would dare come to me, not with my brother and Helos ready to send them to the gods of the underworld. I assure you, the process for a non-dead person is not a fun one.”

“Are we talking living mummification here?” He had heard myths about things like that happening from his first girlfriend in high school who happened to love all things mythological. He just thought they were fairytales.

“That we are. But you don’t have to worry because I will not let him. Tonight will be about us. Tonight we will love each other. Tomorrow we will prepare for battle. This is about us, not them.”

He pulled her up into his arms. Looking into her chocolate eyes he saw her, her soul, her heart, her honesty and loyalty. She was a true leader, a true warrior, and perhaps leading these people was her destiny. He was never a believer in any stories about God,
 
or gods, but before this experience he would have never believed in time travel. In her he saw the other half to his heart and he wanted her, he wanted this, even if only for tonight.

He lowered his head and captured her lips in a soft sensuous kiss. He would take his time with her tonight, embrace her, learn her body and get pleasure while giving her pleasure in return. He would gain intimate knowledge of her, and in that action he would meld his heart to hers, even if they couldn’t have forever.

He took her to her bed, ready to claim her body in the way he had fantasized about claiming it from the moment she ended up in that holding cell with them. She pushed him on to his back and straddled his waist. He flipped their positions swiftly. “This is an area in which I wish to take control,” he leaned closer to her, his breath fanning lightly against her lips.

“Then take it,” she whispered to him. “Take me.”

That was all the permission he needed. He took her with the passion of man who burned with unquenched desires. Tonight he would satisfy his passions and hers.

Chapter Three

N
efertari had slept well, even though she wished Alex had been able to stay with her. She knew it wasn’t possible. He had to leave and sleep near the men otherwise somebody would have gone looking for him. If they had found him in her bed there was no way she would be able to stop her brother from running his blade through him. For their passion they had taken great risks, but now it was time to act smartly. He knew that last night and so did she.

“Glad you could join us,” Inka stated as Nefertari walked into the gathering chambers. She noticed Alex first, his eyes searched her out and she smiled at him subtly.

“I slept longer this morning,” she admitted because she had. “Are we nearly ready to pull out tonight?”

“Yes,” he stated. “As I suspected, and as you suspected, the traitor left late last night. I am sure she took news to the pharaoh.”

She nodded. “We kept her away from the talk of the future men?”

“Yes. There were only a small number of us who knew from where they came and we guarded it with our lives. She was not privy to it, neither are the others outside of our higher circle of warriors. Just those we trust.”

She nodded affirmatively. She knew they were guarding the secret closely and their suspected traitor, Dakara, would not have been with the men the night they talked of the future world. At least there were still some secret weapons unknown to the pharaoh. It still saddened her to learn of their inside traitor. She had known Dakara since she was a child. Now that she was of marrying age it would seem she wanted one of the pharaoh’s brothers and so she agreed to spy for him because of his promise of royalty for her. When Helos first approached Nefertari with the news she couldn’t believe it. But she trusted Helos and so she allowed the investigation to secretly commence. She allowed them to track Dakara and learn what they could from her activities. Nefertari had hoped the little girl with the striking ash eyes and the caramel skin would prove to be an honest ally, but the information Helos’ spies brought with them was too true to dismiss. Dakara had betrayed her people and for that she would never be welcomed back. Traitors were put to death in every territory and not even the queen could save her now. Nefertari wouldn’t have saved her anyway. There were too many traitors among them and for every breach of trust good men and women died.

Dakara would be killed in battle with the enemy; there would be no mercy on her, or the
 
man who betrayed her father.