Lady of Heaven (20 page)

            ~ FS

CHAPTER TWELVE

Allahaba arrived
at the Marriott promptly at eight o’clock.  Fox was waiting for him in the
grand lobby and escorted him up to the hotel room.

There were
candles everywhere, purchased in the gift shop earlier in the day and creating
a lovely atmosphere. Morgan was in the kitchenette, setting out the last of the
hors d'oeuvres they had ordered from the exclusive Saraya restaurant
downstairs.  Allahaba was thrilled to see them both so soon, following Fox out
onto the balcony where they had a beautiful table set. Candles burned, fine
china glistened, and in the velvet sky above, a big silver moon gleamed. Fox
indicated Allahaba’s chair and the man took it happily. As they sat, Morgan
brought out the appetizers.

As Morgan moved
around the table, Fox was having a difficult time focusing on Allahaba.  Morgan
was dressed in a form-fitting silver dress with spaghetti straps and short
hemline. On her feet were the silver sassy shoes she had worn the night before that
had made her legs look so great.  Fox had left to get Allahaba before she’d
gotten completely dressed, so the slinky cocktail dress was a sexy surprise for
him.

He’d never been
so hot for a woman in his life, right now as he was entertaining an old friend,
of all places. When she bent over to put the tray of asparagus with spinach and
beef on the table, he deliberately ran his hand up the back of her calf; her
skin was like silk. She cast him a glance, knowing what he was up to, but he
did nothing more than wink at her.     

“Can I help you
with anything, love?” he asked innocently.

Morgan shook her
head, her blond ponytail dusting her back. “No, thank you,” she replied,
smiling at him as he licked his lips when Allahaba wasn’t looking. “You and
Allahaba enjoy yourselves.”

Fox watched her
walk back to the kitchenette, her great butt beneath the dress, picking up his
wineglass as he did so.  Suddenly, the glass tipped and red wine dribbled on to
his shirt.

“Christ,” he
hissed, setting the glass down and backing away from the table. “Sorry, Al.
I’ll be right back.”

Allahaba waved
him off; he was stuffing himself on the asparagus. Fox left the table and
crossed through the living room on his way to the bedroom. Morgan, behind the
counter in the kitchen, saw the mess on his white dress shirt.

“What happened?”
she wanted to know.

He crooked a
finger at her as he headed into the bedroom. “Can you come and help me,
please?”

Morgan dropped
what she was doing and followed him into the bedroom.  As soon as she entered
the room, he shut the door softly behind her.  When she turned to help him with
the shirt, he grabbed her with one arm and began ripping off his shirt with the
other.

“How dare you
wear something so bloody sexy when we have a guest,” he growled, his mouth
slanting over hers. “I’ll never be able to sit still through dinner with you
wearing this thing.”

Morgan was
giggling, trying to fend off his onslaught. “Not right now,” she hissed at him.
“Later; I promise.”

“No,” he managed
to unbutton his shirt with one hand and yanked it half-way off. “Not later;
now
.”

She was
full-blown laughing by this time, trying to push him away.  “Did you spill that
wine just so you could get me in here to help you change?”

“What do you
think?”

He let go of her
for a split second to pull the rest of his shirt off and she made a break for
the door. He was on her in an instant, swinging her up in his arms and carrying
her, giggling and all, into the bathroom.

The door shut
loudly behind them and Fox set her on the bathroom counter, his mouth slanting
hungrily over hers.  Morgan finally gave up resisting him and gave in to his
lust, her arms around his neck, holding him tightly.  His hands were roaming
everywhere until they snaked up her short skirt with the intention of pulling her
panties off.  But he suddenly came to a halt and his eyes flew open wide,
looking at her with such astonishment that she started giggling again.

“You’re not
wearing any panties,” he breathed, half-accusing and half-thrilled.

She gave him a
devilish grin. “Nope.”

His eyebrows
flew up with mock fury. “And you were going to tease me with that all night?”

“You better
believe it.”

Fox cast a
glance to the heavens, the most sincere look of reverence on his face. “Thank
you, God,” he prayed.  And then the hands went back to work.

Nearly ten
minutes later, Fox emerged from the bedroom with a new shirt, looking
completely calm and collected.  He returned to the balcony just as Morgan
emerged from the bedroom, looking unruffled.  She went straight into the
kitchen and resumed where she left off as if nothing out of the ordinary had
occurred. 

Truth was, her
legs felt like spaghetti thanks to two orgasms in the past ten minutes, but she
put it all aside to focus on the meal. Collecting a big tray with three plates
of lamb and rice on it, she carried it out to the patio.

Fox stood up
again when he saw her coming, taking the tray from her. She smiled her thanks,
with perhaps a little extra warmth, as she set a plate before Allahaba, Fox,
and then herself.  Fox set the tray aside and held her seat out for her.

“This looks
delicious,” Allahaba told her. “I am so glad you are feeling better.”

Morgan nodded as
she picked up her fork. “Much better, thank you,” she replied. “Thanks for
coming to dinner on such short notice.”

Allahaba waved
her off. “This is a delight. My wife cooks nothing but Kufta. Have you ever had
it?”

Morgan shook her
head. “What is it?”

“Chopped beef
with cinnamon,” he told her with some disgust. “It is all she knows how to make.”

Morgan grinned
as they delved into the lamb and rice.  She ate silently as Fox and Allahaba
discussed the days on the Edfu dig, the poor conditions, the food and flies. 
Fox and Morgan had a bottle of good red wine, sharing it between them, while
Allahaba abstained due to his Muslim practice.  Fox had about three quarters of
the bottle while Morgan only had one glass, but the more Fox drank, the more
animated he became.  She remembered that from the first night they’d had dinner
together at Heaven’s Gate.  While wine made her sleepy, wine made him happy.

Eventually, the
conversation came around to their current visit to Egypt.  Allahaba wanted to
know what they planned to see on their holiday, at which time Morgan looked at
Fox to see if he was about to bring about the true purpose of their visit. Fox
caught her expression, knowing she was thinking the same thing as he was; no
better time than the present to work the truth into the conversation.

“Truthfully,
there’s something we think you should know,” he said to Allahaba. “I met Morgan
in England because she came to me with an artifact her great-grandparents had
purchased in Egypt. “

Allahaba looked
at Morgan. “Is that so?” he asked, interested. “What was the artifact?”

Morgan looked at
Fox beseechingly, who answered for her. “It was a papyrus,” he said quietly.
“Al, there’s really no simple way to explain this, so I’ll just come out with
it. You and I have been friends long enough that I know you’ll appreciate that
I’m being truthful with you.  Today, you asked me if I’d ever heard of the Lady
of Heaven papyrus.  The answer is that I have.”

Allahaba grew
more interested. “Where did you hear of it?”

“From me,”
Morgan spoke, watching Allahaba’s dark eyes turn in her direction. “My
great-grandfather recently passed away and my mother and I were cleaning out
his home in England.  When we visited you earlier today, Fox mentioned to you
that my great-grandparents spent a great deal of time in Egypt and had
collected many wonderful artifacts. One of these artifacts was a papyrus and
the label on it said ‘Lady of Heaven’.”

Allahaba stared
at her.  “The… the Lady of Heaven papyrus?”

Morgan nodded,
feeling less intimidated to speak on the subject. “I was told that my
great-grandmother had purchased the papyrus from a dealer.  I was further told
that this dealer translated the hieroglyphics for her and the story they told
were clues to what is believed to be Isis’ tomb.  My great-grandmother set off
in search of the tomb but she never made it.  My great-grandfather told me that
she died of a fever in Egypt.” She sat forward in her chair, her clear brown
eyes intense. “I have my great-grandmother’s journal which records her visits
to Egypt.  In it, she writes of her quest to follow the clues on the papyrus
but the journal abruptly ends and I believe it was because she was murdered in
her search to find the truth. Fox has been helping me decipher the text of the
papyrus and that is why we came to visit you today.  Fox thought you could help
us but when you spoke of the Lady of Heaven papyrus, we weren’t sure if we
should ask. That’s why we left early. And that’s why we invited you to dinner;
so we could tell you the truth.”

Allahaba was
staring at her as if she had grown two heads.  His stunned gaze moved back and
forth between Fox and Morgan, clearly trying to reconcile everything he had
just been told.  After several long and tense moments, he finally shook his
head.  Then he reached for Fox’s half-full wine glass and tossed back the
contents like a shot of whiskey.  He set the glass down, hard, and looked at
Morgan.

“
You
have
the papyrus?” he nearly demanded.

She nodded. “I
have it,” she watched his body language, trying to read his thoughts. “You
mentioned that your grandfather had fallen in love with my great-grandmother. 
Can you tell me more about that?”

Allahaba was
struggling to compose himself; while Fox and Morgan had had an entire afternoon
to reconcile themselves to the news, Allahaba had not.  It was clear he was
reeling and struggling very hard not to show it.  He reached for his water
glass with shaking hands and drained it before speaking.

“What is your
great-grandmother’s name?” he avoided her question to ask one of his own.

Morgan didn’t
hesitate. “Frances,” she told him. “But everyone called her Fanny. Did your
grandfather ever mention her?”

“And you were
told she was murdered?”

Morgan realized
he hadn’t answered any of her questions but she was trying to be polite about
it.

“No,” Morgan
clarified. “I was told that she died of fever in Egypt.  It’s my belief, based
on her journal, that I wasn’t told the truth. I believe she was murdered.”

Allahaba stared
at her a moment before looking at Fox. “May I speak with you in private?”

Fox’s black eyes
glittered. “There’s nothing you can say to me in private that you can’t say in
front of Morgan.”

Morgan put a
hand on his arm and was already rising from her chair. “It’s okay,” she said,
hoping that Allahaba would tell Fox more about the situation if she weren’t
there. “I’ll take care of the dishes while you two talk.”

She was
collecting plates and glasses.  Fox stood up to help her but she shooed him
away, telling him to sit.  In her slinky silver dress, she went back to the
kitchen and set the dishes down.  Fox watched her, noting when she disappeared
into the bedroom and shut the door. He could hear the television go on with the
volume loud.

He returned his
attention to Allahaba. “I don’t appreciate you being rude to her,” he said
quietly.

Allahaba didn’t
back down and he didn’t apologize. “You would appreciate it a lot less if I
said to her what I am going to say to you.”

“What’s that?”

Allahaba threw
up his hands in frustration and stood up, moving to the edge of the balcony and
gazing out over the dark blue Nile.   His manner was agitated.

“My grandfather
was married when he met Fanny Sherburn,” he told him, watching Fox’s eyebrows
lift. “That is correct; he was married. For whatever reason, the British woman
captivated him. In little time, he left my grandmother for Fanny and you must
remember that in those days, divorce was a horrible scandal. It simply wasn’t
done.”

Fox remained
cool. “You can’t fault a man because he falls in love. And you can’t blame
Fanny because he left your grandmother.”

Allahaba shook
his head. “I do not blame her,” he insisted. “My grandfather was a handsome man
with flowing dark hair and dark eyes. He loved women and they loved him in
return.  Fanny, by all accounts, was a beautiful women and very charming, much
like your fiancée.   When they came together, it was a terrible disgrace. My
father was very young at the time but he remembered the pain the family went
through because of it.  In fact, I do believe that there were some attempts on
Fanny’s life because of it. My grandfather’s wife came from a powerful family
and they did not take the betrayal well at all.”

Fox toyed with
his empty wine glass.  “So what happened?”