Lady of Heaven (9 page)

There is was
something in his expression that made her believe him.

November 21,
1922

            I
saw the pyramids of Giza today. Joy of joys! To imagine savage man as he built
these monstrous structures seems inconceivable.  Surely they had divine help!

            ~FS

CHAPTER FIVE

Twenty four days
later

Cairo, Egypt

The AirSwiss Flight had been a two
day affair from Los Angeles to Cairo.  There had been a direct flight to
Zurich, Switzerland, where Morgan had an eleven hour layover before continuing
on the four hour flight to Cairo.  She had flown coach and slept almost the
entire way, so it hadn’t been too terribly bad.  But her dreams, and her waking
moments, had been filled entirely with thoughts of Fox.

The last week in England had been
something out of a romance novel. When she needed to be helping her mother with
Heaven’s Gate, she had been spending time with Fox.  They’d had several cozy
dinners and he proved that he was a fantastic cook.  He had taken her around
Bolton and shown her the sights, and one day he had taken her to see the
Tyldesley Rugby team play the Bowden Rugby club. 

After the game, they had ended up
in the same pub as many of the Tyldesley players and Morgan had found out that
Fox had played two years with the club.  All of the players knew Fox, who had
the pleasure of introducing Morgan to his mates.  Immediately, the macho rugby
players focused in on her and Fox found himself fending off several amorous
friends.  But it had been great fun and something that still brought a smile to
Morgan’s lips when she thought of it.

 It has gotten better towards the
end of the week. While Fox was at work, Morgan had buckled down to help her
mother finish off what they could before they returned for the States,
including letting Fox and two assistants come and photograph the sarcophagus of
Hetep-Ankh-Sheri.  Fox had been very professional while photographing and
cataloguing, but at one point when Laura and both assistants had left the
library, he pulled Morgan into an amorous kiss that still made her hot to think
about it. 

They hadn’t slept together yet but
it wasn’t because the sexual pull hadn’t been overwhelming; Morgan seemed to
back off when it came to that point, not wanting to submit to what she knew
would be an emotional experience she would never recover from. Morgan already
felt such an attraction to Fox that she couldn’t imagine what it would be like
once she turned herself over to him bodily.  She was terrified of losing
herself to him and then returning to Los Angeles, alone and in love.  She’d met
a man who was her soul mate and she didn’t want to be parted from him, not
ever. But the London/Los Angeles difference was a huge issue. She couldn’t
think straight, unsure what to do about it.

The last twenty four hours before
her flight home had been the most serious.  They had stayed up all night talking
in the library, lying on the old leather couch and watching the sun rise. They
talked about his background, family, education, and his stint in the rugby
club. She had also gotten the impression that he was a bit of a brawler when
provoked, which had come in handy playing rugby.

He’d talked about his family, his
father who was a marine biologist and his four younger brothers, three of whom
were in the royal marines. Morgan had talked about her own rather uneventful
life, her career as a cop and the few times she had been shot at. But he didn’t
want to hear that part, so the conversation had moved to other things.

When the sun finally rose, he had
helped her finish packing, lugging all of her baggage and her mother’s down to
the rental car and loading them in.  He had even driven them to the Manchester
airport for their flight that connected in London before going on to Los
Angeles.  

Because of security at the airport,
he couldn’t go past the security check point so they had to say good-bye out in
the terminal where all of the check-in counters were located. When the baggage
was checked and Laura made herself scarce, Morgan and Fox faced each other in
the cavernous, busy terminal.

There were a thousand people all
around them, busily going about their lives, but Morgan and Fox had eyes only
for each other.  Fox stared at her for about five seconds before wrapping his
enormous arms around her and pulling her into a crushing embrace that had her
feet dangling more than a foot off the ground. He kissed her amorously,
whispering his feelings for her in his ear but stopping short of telling her
that he loved her.

They both knew they were in love
with each other but, somehow, only knowing each other for six days, thirteen
hours and forty-seven minutes prevented them from making the declaration, like
it would be too rash for them to do it. So Morgan got on the plane without
telling Fox that she loved him and without hearing him tell her that he loved
her in return.  She wondered, as the plane landed at Cairo International
Airport, if he was kicking himself as much as she had been kicking herself over
that. She wished she’d told him.

As the plane pulled up to the
terminal, the pilot thanked everyone for choosing SwissAir and mentioned that
the weather was a balmy eighty degrees.  Morgan waited until almost everyone
had left the plane before standing up and getting her carry-on from the
overhead compartment.  She was dressed in jeans, a lightweight long-sleeved
shirt and a lightweight jacket, and her white tennis shoes.  Her long blond
hair was pulled back in a ponytail, slightly mussed as a result of the
seventeen hour flight, but she was her usual beautiful self in spite of the
exhaustion of travel. 

Fox’s flight was due to land three
hours after hers so Morgan knew she had some waiting to do.  She hoped to clean
up a little bit and look presentable for him.  Disembarking the plane, she
trudged up the gangway and into the main terminal where a collection of people
were greeting each other. Kids, grandparents, parents and lovers were all
hugging each other, glad to be together again.

 Shifting her carry-on to the other
shoulder and hiking up her purse, Morgan had her head down as she moved through
the crowd.  She was nearing the corridor that led to the baggage claim area
when someone suddenly grabbed her from behind.

She was up in the air before she
realized what had happened. Panicked, her police training kicked in and she was
preparing to take out her attacker’s kneecaps when a warm face suddenly nuzzled
her neck.

“I thought you’d never get off that
bloody plane,” Fox was hugging her passionately. “You look good enough to eat.”

Morgan gasped in delight, shifting
so he had to put her down and then throwing her arms around his neck.

“Oh, my God,” she breathed as he smothered
her face with kisses. “I thought your plane got in later this afternoon!”

He couldn’t seem to kiss her
enough. “I lied,” he told her. “I wanted to surprise you.”

She laughed. “Well, it worked. I’m
surprised.”

He stopped grinning long enough to
look at her. “Good,” he took a moment to drink in her face. “You’re more
beautiful than I remembered. I’ve missed those dimples so much I thought I was
going to shrivel away.”

She smiled, displaying his beloved
dimples full-bore and running her hands over his face, watching him kiss her
palms. “I’ve missed you, too.”

He pulled her close and kissed her
again. “The past seventeen days have been a nightmare,” he whispered. “All I
could think of was counting down the days until we’d see each other again.”

“I know,” she agreed. “But now we
have at least six weeks together. I hope you can stand me by the end of it.”

His features softened. “Of course I
can,” he murmured. “In fact, there’s something you should know.”

“What?”

“I love you very much.”

She stared at him, her clear brown
eyes soft with adoration. “I love you, too,” she whispered. Then her eyes
started to water. “But I’m afraid to.”

She began to sniffle and he wrapped
her up in his big arms, rocking her gently. He was thrilled and concerned at
the same time. “Why?” he asked.

Her face was pressed into his
chest. “Because what’s going to happen when we leave Egypt in six weeks?” she
lamented. “You’ll go back to England and I’ll go back to the United States and
then what?”

He gave her a squeeze, kissing her
forehead. “I’ll get a job in Los Angeles,” he told her, wiping the tears off
her cheeks and turning her around so they could head to baggage claim. “I’ve
already made up my mind. Where you go, I go.”

Morgan wiped at her nose, allowing
him to herd her to the escalator. “But that’s not fair to you,” she told him.
“Your job at the Bolton Museum is much more prestigious and important. I can
move to England and get a job with a police department.  They like cops from
the United States.”

He took her carry-on from her shoulder
before she stepped on the escalator, stepping on behind her.  He kissed the top
of her head as the escalator moved down.

“Anyone would be lucky to have
you,” he said. “But we can talk about this later. We don’t have to settle
everything right now.”

She patted his hand as it rested on
her shoulder, grasping his fingers as they got off the escalator and made their
way towards baggage claim.  There were dozens of people standing around the
giant carousel and when she pointed out her giant purple suitcase, Fox easily
retrieved it and hefted the big bag over his head before setting it down beside
her.  He grunted as he let it go.

“What do you have in that thing?”
he huffed. “Boulders?”

She snorted. “There’s a second
one.”

His eyebrows flew up in mock outrage.
“What?”

She grinned and pointed to the
matching purple suitcase as it came around. He dutifully went to collect it,
commenting that he now had a hernia. Morgan giggled, kissed him, and followed
him as he lugged her suitcases, plus his own, out to the curb.  Once outside in
the balmy Egyptian afternoon, he commandeered a taxi and off they went.

Morgan had booked seven days at the
Cairo Marriott Hotel with a Nile view.  She’d used her credit card points to
book the week, wanting to stay at a nice hotel while she and Fox figured out
their plan of attack. 

The taxi made its way through the
airport traffic and on to the streets of Cairo, which were wild beyond belief. 
Fox, having been to Egypt several times as it related to his profession, was
used to the chaos but Morgan white-knuckled the ride until they pulled into a
nicer part of town and into the garden-like grounds of the Marriott. 

The sun was setting as the bellhops
raced out to the taxi and began loading the luggage onto rolling racks.  Fox
paid the taxi driver and took Morgan’s hand as they went into the luxurious
lobby. 

He felt proud to have her on his
arm, like nothing he had experienced before. Morgan checked in as Fox stood
next to her and noted that she had only booked one room.  He was a little
curious, since any attempts he had ever made to take her to bed had been
thwarted, so he wondered about the single room.  He didn’t say a word as they
took the elevator to the fifth floor and made their way to room 526.  Fox used
the key card and opened the door.

It was a suite, very luxurious with
mock-ancient Egyptian decor, with a living room, kitchenette, and bedroom with
a fluffy king sized bed.  Morgan went straight into the bedroom and began
setting her stuff down.

“Baby?” she called. “Bring the
suitcases in here, please.”

He schlepped in the suitcases, one
in each hand and one under each arm.  He dutifully set them down and she
maneuvered both of her big purple suitcases over to the window, heaving one up
on a stand and the other up on to the table.  Then she began to throw them open
and dig through them.

“I’m dying to take a shower,” she
muttered, pulling out her overnight bag with all of her shampoos and
toiletries. “Seventeen hours on a plane. Yuck.”

Fox picked up his big suitcase and
put it on the bed, opening it up. “How were your flights?” he asked. “Yours
were longer than mine.”

She shrugged, pulling out a silky
white robe. “Luckily, I slept most of the way on both legs, so I guess they
were fine.”

He watched her as she moved past
him and into the bathroom. As soon as she flipped on the light, he heard her
squeal with delight. He went to see what had her so excited.

Morgan was already pulling the
rubber band from her hair, moving to run water into the giant Roman tub.  The
fixtures were elaborate and looked as if they were made of gold, with marble
counters and beautiful mock-ancient Egyptian artwork covering the walls.

Fox watched as she ran bubbles into
the big white tub. “I was thinking we could eat in the room tonight and get to
bed early,” he said. “Sound like a plan?”

She nodded as she pulled off her
shoes. “Sounds great,” she said. “I’m a little hungry.”

“Me, too.”

He went back into the living room
and collected the room service menu, returning to the bathroom just in time to
see her pull her jeans off.  He nearly dropped the menu as she proceeded to
remove her bra.

“What do they have for dinner?” she
asked, completely unaware of the fact that she was stripping naked in front of
him.

But Fox wasn’t unaware. He’d never
been more aware of anything in his life. In fact, he’d been dreaming of this
moment non-stop for almost a month.